thedrifter
09-10-06, 06:25 AM
Warriors of liberty who answered call
By PATRICE O'SHAUGHNESSY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, September 10th, 2006
SEPT. 11, 2001, changed countless lives in myriad ways but perhaps none so profoundly as those who went to war.
These are the stories of three men from different backgrounds who enlisted in the armed forces five years ago to avenge the terrorist attacks, and whose experiences since left an indelible impact on them.
Lean and immaculate in a Marine uniform, with ribbons on his chest signifying the Iraqi campaign, the Global War on Terror, the Navy Achievement Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal, with a small gold V for combat valor, Sgt. Lazaro Arocha is a poster boy for the U.S. Marine Corps.
But he still faces obstacles as a recruiter in Smithtown, L.I.
"A lot of kids are concerned with going to Iraq," he said. "I tell them it's more likely you're gonna go, but with your Marine skills you'll be fine. I went through it twice. It was tough, but I'm here."
Parents slam doors in his face, and he knows they're just trying to protect their kids. "But I say, 'Everything that happened with 9/11, don't you remember that?'"
Arocha was 20 years old, with plans to attend Hunter College and become a history teacher, on that bright Tuesday morning five years ago. He was at his girlfriend's house in Queens and saw the plane crash into the first tower on television.
"We ran up to the roof so we could see the towers, and I saw a second flash," said the West Side kid, recalling his prom at the Marriott World Trade Center Hotel, destroyed in the collapse of the twin towers. "At first I thought it was a miscalculation. I didn't think it was a terrorist attack. Taliban, Al Qaeda ... I never heard those names.
"I stayed up all night talking with my girlfriend's brother," Arocha added. "We wanted to do something. We couldn't go down to help remove people ... we decided to join the U.S. Marines."
The next day they went to the recruiting station on Main St. in Flushing, Queens. "There were a lot of guys down there, everyone had the same sentiment, to get the terrorists who destroyed our city skyline," said Arocha. "We were the only two who qualified that day."
In December, he left for Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was in the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, who went to Iraq at the start of the invasion in March 2003.
"I was in Iraq for three months, and we got a lot of fire, but the Iraqis didn't have too much fight in them. They were retreating, and we secured [the northern city of] Mosul." On his second deployment in Iraq, he found a different, deadlier environment.
"There was a mortar attack every day. We took a lot of casualties, and a lot of guys didn't make it," he said. "The first time in Iraq, it was not a terrorist thing; the second time, there were terrorists, insurgents, snipers. I was a radio operator, and when you have the radio on your back you're a target.
"I thought we'd go in, take care of business and be out," Arocha said.
But the war goes on, and he reenlisted in October 2005, and works to find other young men to fill the ranks of the Marines.
As for Arocha's onetime goal of becoming a history teacher, "I went through a lot of things you can't find in textbooks ... as one of my officers said, we're making history."
Ellie
By PATRICE O'SHAUGHNESSY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, September 10th, 2006
SEPT. 11, 2001, changed countless lives in myriad ways but perhaps none so profoundly as those who went to war.
These are the stories of three men from different backgrounds who enlisted in the armed forces five years ago to avenge the terrorist attacks, and whose experiences since left an indelible impact on them.
Lean and immaculate in a Marine uniform, with ribbons on his chest signifying the Iraqi campaign, the Global War on Terror, the Navy Achievement Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal, with a small gold V for combat valor, Sgt. Lazaro Arocha is a poster boy for the U.S. Marine Corps.
But he still faces obstacles as a recruiter in Smithtown, L.I.
"A lot of kids are concerned with going to Iraq," he said. "I tell them it's more likely you're gonna go, but with your Marine skills you'll be fine. I went through it twice. It was tough, but I'm here."
Parents slam doors in his face, and he knows they're just trying to protect their kids. "But I say, 'Everything that happened with 9/11, don't you remember that?'"
Arocha was 20 years old, with plans to attend Hunter College and become a history teacher, on that bright Tuesday morning five years ago. He was at his girlfriend's house in Queens and saw the plane crash into the first tower on television.
"We ran up to the roof so we could see the towers, and I saw a second flash," said the West Side kid, recalling his prom at the Marriott World Trade Center Hotel, destroyed in the collapse of the twin towers. "At first I thought it was a miscalculation. I didn't think it was a terrorist attack. Taliban, Al Qaeda ... I never heard those names.
"I stayed up all night talking with my girlfriend's brother," Arocha added. "We wanted to do something. We couldn't go down to help remove people ... we decided to join the U.S. Marines."
The next day they went to the recruiting station on Main St. in Flushing, Queens. "There were a lot of guys down there, everyone had the same sentiment, to get the terrorists who destroyed our city skyline," said Arocha. "We were the only two who qualified that day."
In December, he left for Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was in the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, who went to Iraq at the start of the invasion in March 2003.
"I was in Iraq for three months, and we got a lot of fire, but the Iraqis didn't have too much fight in them. They were retreating, and we secured [the northern city of] Mosul." On his second deployment in Iraq, he found a different, deadlier environment.
"There was a mortar attack every day. We took a lot of casualties, and a lot of guys didn't make it," he said. "The first time in Iraq, it was not a terrorist thing; the second time, there were terrorists, insurgents, snipers. I was a radio operator, and when you have the radio on your back you're a target.
"I thought we'd go in, take care of business and be out," Arocha said.
But the war goes on, and he reenlisted in October 2005, and works to find other young men to fill the ranks of the Marines.
As for Arocha's onetime goal of becoming a history teacher, "I went through a lot of things you can't find in textbooks ... as one of my officers said, we're making history."
Ellie